


Attachments

by chilled_ramune



Series: Attachmets/Fate [1]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-27
Updated: 2018-12-11
Packaged: 2019-09-01 08:45:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16761829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chilled_ramune/pseuds/chilled_ramune
Summary: Indrid knew at this point not to get attached to anyone. There were just too many risks involved. But somehow, there's three people, and one in particular, that he just can't help himself with...(Canon divergent due to me starting this before episode 19 came out.)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> AYYY it's 8am and I haven't slept in like 22 hours. I wanted to finish this before going to sleep so here it is. My first fic in fuckin ages.

Indrid was never one to get too close to anyone or anything of the sort-the only relations he had were professional business relations. His job was simply one of a seer and a messenger. He would see impending doom, relay a message, and then rely on the receiver to act on his message and change the wheels of fate. He had to admit, these new additions to the Pine Guard were certainly good at changing those wheels. Not only was Indrid _very_ interested in the three, but he almost considered them friends. Almost. Although he trusted them, he also knew his life didn't allow him to have friends. He already almost had to leave them behind once...it was better for him not to get too attached. Unfortunately, not getting attached was easier said than done. Especially in the case of one certain Duck Newton. 

Sure, Ned and Aubrey were great people, but Duck was...well, he was something else. There was something about him, something Indrid couldn’t quite pin down, that was so enthralling. Indrid wanted so badly to get closer to him, to learn more. But no, he couldn’t get too close, he had to keep his distance. Anything could happen, and besides, why would anyone even want to be close to him after seeing his true form? He knew better than to get attached. It never ended well for him, and odds are it never would.

So how was it that he found himself in Duck’s apartment, next to him, the silence an unbearable accompaniment to the nerves bubbling up inside him? Right, he was invited here. Duck had asked and, although he wanted to say no, he just couldn’t somehow. He didn’t see any way for this to end badly, at least. In fact, all the futures he saw were rather unremarkable. Just them sitting together, each with a cup of warm eggnog, neither saying a word. The room was far too cold for Indrid, but he didn't dare complain, just stayed wrapped up in the blanket Duck had offered him. Neither of them spoke or even looked at one another for a long while. Instead, Indrid chose to survey his environment as best he could.

The whole thing was very...Duck. Tidy and clean, for the most part at least. Completely different from how Indrid tended to keep his living space (though he kept things a bit more neat as of late, what with Billy’s curiosity leading to several broken items and near injuries for the both of them.) A small bookshelf sat on one end of the room, and most of the books on it seemed to related to nature in some shape way or form. On the very top of the bookshelf sat some well-tended to houseplants. The kitchen space was small, just enough space for the usual appliances and a small table. Duck and Indrid sat together in the living room on a small blue loveseat that sat directly across from an old-looking television. Immediately in front of them was a wooden coffee table, Duck had already sat out coasters for both of them to place their mugs. Indrid continued looking around the room in silence and, after what felt like a full century and then some, Duck cleared his throat.

“So...you probably know this, but I didn't come here just so we could sit here wordlessly drinkin’ nog, as nice as that seems,” He said, putting his mug down on the coffee table. “I actually kinda wanted to talk about somethin’ with you, if that's alright.”

Indrid tilted his head. What could Duck want to talk about that was so urgent that he had to invite him over like this? “I’m listening,” he said, looking at Duck for the first time since he arrived at the apartment. Something about him felt almost mesmerizing. Was it sturdy jaw? The slight stubble? The pensive look on his face? Indrid couldn’t pin it down, all he knew was that once he caught sight of Duck’s face, he didn’t want to look away for a second.

“So, you know how you have those visions? What am I sayin’, of course you know, they’re your visions. That was a stupid question.” Duck sighed and shook his head “Anyways, I have ‘em too. Well, not exactly the ones you have. They’re a little different. Actually, a lot different. Way different. Maybe comparing them to yours was a little misleading. I apologize for that.”

Duck’s tendency to ramble amused Indrid somewhat. It was almost...cute, in a way. Damnit, what was he thinking? He pushed aside his other thoughts to focus on the issue at hand, a much more important and frankly very interesting topic.

“What makes your visions so different from my own?” Indrid asked.

“Well, they aren’t as frequent as yours,” Duck explained. “And I remember you described yours as bein’ like like lookin’ at a bunch of TV screens. It’s nothin’ like that. All it is is just one really short, really vague vision. I usually can’t make any sense of it.”

Indrid nodded and hummed thoughtfully, tapping his fingers against the mug in his hands. “Are you looking for advice on how to better understand those visions and make them more useful?”

“No, not really, just thought I’d talk with you about ‘em, since you might understand a bit.” Duck paused. “Although, I guess advice might be good. Maybe? I dunno...you know what? Yeah, advice would be fuckin’ great. Hit me.” 

Indrid chuckled softly. “A bit indecisive are we?” He took the last sip from his mug and sat it down on the coffee table. “Alright, the best way to make use of your visions is to record them as soon as they happen! I usually draw mine, but if you aren’t so artistically inclined, writing them down should work just as well.”

Duck nodded and tapped his chin. “Huh. Guess that should have been obvious. I mean, especially after seein’ all those drawings you have...Well, I’m not much of an artist but writing ‘em down might work. Thanks, Indrid.” He smiled and patted Indrid’s back in a way that, for some reason, mad Indrid feel like his heart just took off. Why would he...no. It’s nothing. He’s just...cold. That’s all. Yeah. He’s cold and the warmth from Duck’s body so close to him startled him a bit. He really was...so warm. Warm and welcoming and strong and...

“Hey, you good there?” Duck’s voice pulled Indrid out of his own thoughts.

“Oh, sorry. I got a bit caught up in my own mind there. It happens sometimes.” He did his best to laugh it off, and it appeared to convince Duck enough.

“Yeah, I think I’d space out sometimes if I was constantly seein’ a buncha different futures.” Duck said before relaxing a bit. There was a few moments of silence before Duck hesitantly spoke again. “Actually Indrid there is-”

“There is one more thing you want to talk to me about.” Indrid cut Duck off before he finished his sentence. “And no, I won’t judge you for whatever it is.”

“Well, you got me. Guess it’s hard to hide anything from you, huh?” Duck laughed a bit and god, Indrid just wanted to hear that laugh for just a bit longer. It was like music- no. No no no. Stop. Why do you keep having these thoughts? What the hell is wrong with you?

Brushing his thoughts aside once more, Indrid offered a sincere look. “Whatever it is you want to tell me, I know it’s serious. So go on.”

Duck rubbed the back of his neck. “Well the thing is, these visions I’m havin’, they’re a part of somethin’...greater I guess would be how you’d describe it. Apparently I was ‘chosen’ to be a part of somethin’ greater, and that came with...well, it came with a lot. There’s the visions of course...and then I get visits from this spirit, well apparently she isn’t actually a spirit. That’s what she says anyways. She shows up as a spirit, but I think she’s from another world...that doesn’t matter. And then there’s Beacon...well, you’ve seen Beacon. Pain in my ass. Anyways, thing about all this is I always hated it. I don’t want to be some kind of chosen hero, you know? I just want to be me. And lately I’ve been...embracing it more, in a way. I guess it isn’t the worst thing ever, but I’m still just not sure. I don’t want to take this path that’s been laid out for me! I want to be my own person with my own fate, damnit! I can’t let some spirit from another world tell me what my fate is!” He sighed and shook his head. “I dunno why I’m tellin’ you all this to begin with..guess I just thought you might get me, what with how much you seem to deal with future and fate and all that...hey uh, you doin’ alright there, Indrid?”

No.

No no no.

The realization hit him hard. Harder than anything he had felt in years. He was helpless to it, after meeting Duck, after seeing Duck change fate so many times before, hearing him talk about making his own fate...Duck surprised him again and again and again, and it was amazing. But this was the worst surprise of all.

Indrid couldn’t deny it to himself anymore.

He had fallen helplessly in love with Duck Newton, and it was the most terrifying thing he ever experienced.

He got up quickly, dropping the blanket on the couch.

“Hey, what’s up? Something the matter?”

“It’s nothing. I have to go,” Indrid said hurriedly, not daring to look at Duck for even a second.

“Well, hold on a second. You said you promised not to judge me, and now that I’ve spilled to you you’re just gonna up and leave? Really?”

“It’s nothing to do with that. I’m sorry it’s just...” Indrid quickly formulated an excuse. “It’s Billy. He gets restless and I don’t want him tearing anything up. I promise, it’s not you I just need to go.” He rushed to the door.

“Well, at least let me take you home. It’s getting a bit late and it’s freezing out there and I know how much you hate-”

“No. Don’t do that. It’s fine. I just need to go. Don’t worry about me. Bye.”

Indrid walked quickly out the apartment. It was a long walk but he couldn’t be around Duck any longer. Not until he could sort out his own emotions. By the time he made it back to the Winnebago, he felt as if he might freeze to death, and very openly welcomed the comfort of the space heaters inside. His spirits were lifted for a brief moment when Billy greeted him, only for him to be reminded that one of the few things the goat man could say was one of the last things he needed to hear right now.

“Duuuuck.”

Indrid sighed, taking of the thick layer of coats he wore and tossing them aside. “Yeah, I saw him. He just wanted to talk for a bit. Everything’s fine.”

Sensing Indrid’s sour mood, Billy offered some comforting nuzzles. “Duuuuuck,” he bleated once more. At least the affection helped Indrid somewhat, enough to make him crack a smile for just a moment.

“I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me.” Despite his words, his smile was quick to fade. “I think I need some rest. You...stay out of trouble. Don’t eat any of my drawings this time.”

“Piiiiza,” Billy responded.

“Yeah. Night, Billy,” Indrid muttered before heading off to bed, hoping at least a bit of rest might set his mind right.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeehaw...this took longer than I wanted it to, school and work have been a pain in my ass. Buuuut, a stayed up til 6am to finish this (what's with me and writing fanfics at ungodly hours?) so we're good. 
> 
> Anyways thank you thank you THANK YOOOOOOOOOU for all the wonderful kudos and comments on chapter 1!! I wrote this after finally pulling myself out of a HUGE slump where I was convinced my writing was terrible so it means SOOOOOO much to see people like my writing. The feedback is what encouraged me to write this second chapter, so keep it up!
> 
> Next chapter probably won't be for awhile, got lots of classwork to catch up on and finals to study for and all that jazz. But once that's done I'll have lots more time to write!! Yay!!!

Time passed since the incident and, while Duck didn’t visit once, that didn’t stop him from being the one thing on Indrid’s mind. He considered going over and apologizing but no, he just couldn’t face Duck like this. He knew he’d have to get over this eventually if he wanted to continue helping the Pine Guard, but for the time being all he could think about was holding off on anything as long as he possibly could. 

The next week and a half felt like several long, painful, restless years to Indrid, until he heard a knock at his door. He saw it coming, and knew who it was, but didn’t care enough to go and answer it. “It’s open,” he called from his spot at the small table in the kitchen. He sat leaning over his sketchbook, his face scrunched up as he pressed his pencil a bit too hard into the drawing, which looked more like a pathetic scribble compared to most his other drawings. He gave a frustrated grumble as he looked the drawing over, tore it out, and crumpled it before tossing it aside. Billy sat across from him at the table, chewing contentedly on one of the many scraped sheets of paper Indrid had left around. “Hello Aubrey, Ned,” Indrid said without looking up. 

“Yeesh, there really is something going on. I mean, you actually giving me the chance to knock is bad enough, but just look at this place!” Aubrey commented as she looked around the Winnebago. The table and area around it was covered in crumpled-up sheets of paper, food wrappers, and empty, overturned mugs, as if Indrid hadn’t moved from that table in a week. It was bad, even by Indrid’s standards. “Hey Billy. Enjoying your snack?” Aubrey smiled a bit at the goat man, who gave a happy bleat of “Piiiiza” in response as she patted his head.

“Please, Aubrey, I’m trying to curb that habit of his,” Indrid sighed. 

“Well, you seem to be doing a pretty bad job about it,” Ned pointed out, grunting softly as he tried to pull the paper away from Billy, an endeavor that led only to him stumbling backwards as the paper tore, still leaving Billy with the rest to chew on. Aubrey shook her head, then turned back to Indrid.

“Hopefully you can guess why we’re here,” she said. 

“Not a mind reader...” Indrid replied, still not looking up from his sketchbook. 

“Oh come on, even if you’re ‘not a mind reader, you should know full well what we’re here for.” Aubrey slammed her hands down on the table hard enough to startle Billy into falling back and dropping the paper from his mouth, and finally getting Indrid to look up at her. “What the hell happened between you and Duck?”

“What makes you think something happened?” Indrid asked.

“Well,” Ned said as he helped Billy back up. “He hasn’t really...talked about you at all lately.”

Indrid blinked, a bit taken aback. “Duck...talks about me?” He started to feel his heart threaten to pound out his chest. Duck talked about him! He actually talked about him when he wasn’t around! He wanted so desperately to know what Duck said about him. Was it good?? Bad?? Hopefully it was all good. His mind and heart raced as he tried to think of what Duck might say about him.

“Well, yeah,” Aubrey said. “Usually by now he would have asked us if we wanted to go visit you, but we haven’t had even a peep from him about you in over a week!!” She paused and smirked a bit. “Hehheh, peep...Duck...that’s a good one...”

Indrid’s excitement only grew when Aubrey mentioned Duck wanting to go visit him. Did Duck like being around him? Did he enjoy their time together? He had to stop himself from smiling for a moment before another thought crossed his mind. Maybe it wasn’t him Duck liked to see. Maybe he only visited to check on Billy. Yeah. That had to be it. He should know better than to get his hopes up like that...

“Incidental bad puns aside,” Ned said. “Aubrey and I were both reasonably concerned, so we tried to talk to him about you, and he avoided the topic completely and tried to make up a wild excuse about feeling sick because of some weird plant he found in the forest or something.” 

“Between that and the way you seem like, with all due respect, a complete disaster, I don’t think it takes much to figure out that some kind of fight or something happened between the two of you,” Aubrey continued. 

Indrid raised an eyebrow. “Pardon me for asking but, what does me being a ‘disaster’ have anything to do with the issue at hand?” He asked.

“Oh, please,” Aubrey scoffed. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed how close you two have gotten. The jokes, the playful nudges, the casual flirting...you guys almost act like a newlywed couple!” 

Indrid stiffened up slightly. She didn’t know, did she...? “I don’t have the slightest clue what you’re talking about. My relationship with Duck Newton is no different than my relationship with the two of you. A strictly professional business relationship, nothing more.”

“And yet, here you are, acting like a teenage pop singer going through a bad breakup,” Ned said as he motioned to the mess around Indrid. 

“Look, Indrid, whether your relationship with him is professional, or romantic, or whatever the hell else, Duck has kind of made it clear through his inability to lie that something happened between you two, and I just want to make sure it wasn’t anything serious. I don’t want to end up caught in the middle of a fight between two friends.”

_ Friends. _

That word sent a horrible feeling in Indrid’s gut. 

Were they...really friends? No, no, Indrid didn’t  _ have  _ friends. Indrid  _ couldn’t  _ have friends. He didn’t have room for friends. Friends, he had learned the hard way, only led to pain. Aubrey, Ned...Duck...they weren’t his friends. 

He hid his pain behind a wide grin. “Friends? Aubrey Little, I think you may be mistaken.” 

Aubrey’s eyes went slightly wide with concern. “What do you mean?”

“We aren’t ‘friends,’ nor will we ever be. Our relationship, as I said earlier, is strictly a professional business relationship. I help you in any way I can, and you help me by changing the wheels of fa-”

_ SMACK _

For a moment, time seemed to stop as Indrid took in what happened. He brought his hand to his left cheek, which burned and stung with pain. Did Aubrey really just...slap him? He looked at her, slowly, and saw her face scrunched in rage. She breathed heavily, and her hands were in tight fists. 

“Really? ‘We aren’t friends?!’ What the hell are you talking about?! And with that stupid grin on your face too, as if it’s some kind of joke to you?!” Tears began to streak down her cheeks, and her voice broke as she tried to fight them back. “I worked so hard to keep you in Kepler, I practically made myself into a monster in another person’s eyes to keep your secret from getting out to the world, and you’re really going to say we aren’t friends?! Have you lost your damn mind?!”

“Aubrey-” Indrid tried to speak, tried to ask her to calm down.

“No. Whatever you have to say, I don’t want to  _ fucking  _ hear it, Indrid. Do you think I would do all of this shit for you if I didn’t think you were a friend?! If I-”

“Aubrey!” Ned shouted over her, grabbing her attention. “You need to calm down, now. Your fire...”

Aubrey stopped and looked at her hands and sure enough, reacting to her intense emotions, small flames had begun to spring from her hands. She closed her eyes, relaxed herself, and took a few deep breaths, and slowly the fire faded away. “Thanks, Ned,” she muttered before walking to the door. “I think we’re done here, just looking at his face is going to get me mad again.” She stepped outside, almost slamming the door behind her.

Ned followed, and looked back at Indrid before he left, the anger in his face much more subtle than in Aubrey’s, but still clear. “I don’t know what’s going on in your head and frankly, I don’t give a shit. But it’s pretty clear you’ve got some people that care about you. Maybe you should return the favor.” With that, Aubrey and Ned were both gone, and Indrid was alone again. 

Well, almost alone. 

With a quiet, concerned bleat, Billy went to Indrid’s side, offering the usual affection he would offer when he noticed Indrid was in a bad state. Indrid gently shoved him away and got up from the table. “Not now, Billy,” he said. He sulked to his bed and flopped right into it with a loud groan. What the hell was wrong with him? Why did he feel so bad? So what if Aubrey was upset with him? So what if Ned was? So what if Duck was? They could be mad at him all they wanted! Didn’t change the fact that they needed his help! But...would they really accept it after all this? No, they needed him. What if they got caught in a disaster? What if they died? What if...

What if he lost them?

As much as he wanted to hide from it, as much as he didn’t want to admit it even to himself, he cared about them. Greatly. They were like family to him, all three of them were. When was the last time he had something like that? He didn’t want to lose them. He didn’t want to lose their...their friendship. Whether he liked it or not, that’s what they were. His friends. Friends that he cared about, friends that he treasured. 

Friends that he loved.

He groaned again. 

He was going to have to find a way to fix this mess. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry if you expected this chapter to be as cute as the last, but I gotta bring the sad times.
> 
> Like I said, chapter 3 might be a couple weeks away but it should be the last chapter of Attachments, then I have a second fic I'm planning that ties into this one. That'll be anywhere from 1 chapter to 3 depending on the direction I decide to take. 
> 
> Time for sssnnnnzzzz.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Staying true to my pattern of writing at ridiculous hours, the final chapter of Attachments is finished at 5:30 fucking am!!! What is wrong with me!!  
> Anyways, I guess we've got a bit of canon divergence now, with episode 19 (I thought it was 18 for a bit forgive me) revealing a thing or two I of course didn't consider because I didn't know about them yet. No matter, a bit of diverging from the canon never hurt anyone!  
> Also note to self: never proofread while falling asleep again.

Another few days of sulking and thinking over what he should say and do, and eventually Indrid found himself once again in front of Duck's apartment, dozens of times for nervous than the last time he was. He almost didn't want to knock...what if Duck didn't want to see him? No, there was no “what if,” Duck wouldn't be happy at all. There were futures where the door was slammed in his face, and others where he was invited in with some hesitation from Duck, but they all shared one thing in common: Duck was not happy to see him. But he had to try, for everyone's sake. The cold late winter air and his nerves gave him more chills than he could deal with any longer, so he knocked on the door. The seconds crawled by until Duck answered and, just as Indrid expected, was not happy to see him. The grimace on Duck’s face felt more like a hard punch in the stomach than anything else. But, he didn’t shut the door in Indrid’s face yet, so things were at least going somewhat well. 

Before Duck could, Indrid spoke up. “I know you don’t exactly want to see me, but I want to apologize and talk about this. Please.” 

Duck’s eyes narrowed as he seemingly spent a few seconds thinking about Indrid’s offer, before he stepped aside wordlessly. Indrid sighed as he walked inside, so thankful to be out of the freezing cold. The apartment was cold as well, but a relief when compared to being outside. Within a few minutes, they were in the same position they were a couple of weeks ago, blanket and nog and silence and all. This time, it was Indrid’s turn to speak first. 

“I’m really sorry about the other day,” He said. “I suppose I owe you an explanation.”

“Uh, yeah.” The bitter tone in Duck’s voice stung Indrid in the worst possible way. “You just up and disappeared as if I did something wrong! And then Ned told me about that shit that happened with Aubrey...I hope you know you better have a damn good explanation for this.”

Indrid winced slightly and went quiet again for a moment. How much could he tell Duck? He could confess everything and get it all over with but..no, that’s too much, especially with Duck seemingly hating him. What could he say, then? He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he spoke. “The truth is, Duck...” he hesitated once more, overwhelmed by fear. He braced himself for whatever Duck's reaction might be. “The truth is I'm scared.”

Duck's demeanor finally relaxed some and he looked at Indrid, his eyebrows scrunched in confusion. “Scared?”

Indrid nodded slowly. “It's...it's been a long time, Duck. A long, long time since I felt this way. I can't remember the last time I-” the words caught in his throat for just a moment. He needed to choose his next words carefully. “-the last time I cared this much for one person, let alone three.” He looked down at the empty mug in his hands and put it on the coffee table. “It scares me.” The long silence following made Indrid feel sick. Did he say the wrong thing? Just as he was about to apologize, Duck cut him off.

“Indrid, I promise you've got nothin’ to be afraid of. Me, Ned, Aubrey...we're all here for you. We care. You've done so much for us, and I for one can't thank you enough. It'd take a lot to get rid of us. And if you're worried about us bitin’ it or somethin’ well, I'm sure you'll be able to save our asses before anything happens.” Duck smiled and nudged Indrid, but Indrid just couldn't bring himself to play along. 

“My visions aren't perfect, Duck. There's always room for error, room for mistakes! One wrong call and I could lose all three of you.” His thoughts and his voice became panicked. “What if by trying to save you, I just throw you into more danger? What if I lose you all? What if-” His words were cut off by the strong feeling of warmth surrounding him. 

And there he was, Duck holding tightly onto him, his face buried in Duck's chest. And he broke. He let himself cry and clung to Duck, who rubbed his back slowly and comfortingly. They stayed there for a couple minutes until Duck pulled away, moving some tears from Indrid's face with his thumb.

“Hey, I'm here for you. And I don’t plan on leavin’ in any way anytime soon, okay?” 

Indrid looked at Duck and the amount of warmth and caring in his eyes made him weak. The two stayed like this for a few seconds, and a thought crossed Indrid's mind. Now was his chance...he could just...

Slowly he leaned in closer to Duck, his heart racing, the nerves overwhelming... 

And then he tore away, the panic in his mind becoming too much for him. 

There was yet another long silence as Indrid mentally beating himself up for getting so ambitious. What was he thinking?! Was he even thinking?! Was he really that stupid?! He needed a save, a distraction, something, anything! Before he could think of one himself, Duck provided one. 

“You should probably talk to Ned and Aubrey too...Aubrey seemed pretty torn up when talkin’ to me about it the other day.” He said. “I'm actually goin’ down to see them now. Ned wants me to help with that show of his again.” 

“As much as I’d love to,” Indrid said. “That sounds like it’ll be crowded, and I’m not really one to enjoy crowds.”

“Look, if we leave now, we’ll have enough time to getcha back home before I have to help out.”

“Are you sure you can’t just bring them to me later?”

“Indrid, it’s gonna be hard enough getting Aubrey to talk to you as it is, I doubt she’ll go out of her way to talk to you.”

Indrid sighed. Duck unfortunately had a point. He’d just have to suck it up for a few minutes. “Fine, but I’m waiting outside. You’ll have to get them to step out for a moment,” he said. “Also I’m...not telling them what I told you.”

“Givin’ me the special treatment huh?” Duck chuckled and nudged Indrid lightly.

“Yeah, something like that,” Indrid said softly, looking away. There was a moment of awkward laughs followed by yet another silence. There seemed to be a lot of that between them, and each one became increasingly unbearable for Indrid. Time felt slower and slower every time, and it completely wrecked his nerves.

Indrid felt a wave of relief as Duck stood up and cleared his throat to cut the tension between them. “Well, we better get goin’ if we want to have time,” he said. 

“Right,” Indrid said as he stood up. “Let’s go.”

The short walk to the Cryptonomica was a quiet one. Indrid didn’t really know what to say, but he kept sneaking glances at Duck, trying to figure out what was on his mind. Did he notice what Indrid was trying to do back at the apartment...? Indrid tried not to overthink it, but the worry haunted him. Maybe that’s why Duck was so quiet. Maybe he was upset. Maybe he was disgusted that Indrid would even think about trying to get that close to him. Maybe he hated Indrid now. Maybe-

“Indrid? Hey, we’re here.” Indrid jolted when he heard Duck’s voice. “Oh, sorry I must’ve startled you...lost in your visions again?”

“Y-yeah...” Indrid muttered, still not looking at Duck. “Nothing important, though. Just meaningless distractions.” 

“Right...” Duck’s voice trailed off. “Hey, Indrid? You know if you’ve got somethin’ on your mind, you can talk to me about it, right?” His words should have been comforting, but they just sent more pain to Indrid’s chest. It wasn’t fair how kind Duck was to him, it wasn’t fair that it made him fall more for someone he could never have. He thought for a moment on Duck’s offer before coming up with a good enough excuse. 

“I’m just a bit nervous, I suppose,” He lied. “The last time I spoke to Aubrey, she slapped me and then yelled at me. Not exactly the best terms to end on.”

“Well, I’ll make sure there’s no yelling or slapping, alright? I’ve got your back.” Duck smiled reassuringly and patted Indrid’s shoulder. Indrid tried to smile back, but the weather was really starting to get to him. He shuddered, hugging himself tight to try and keep himself warm.

“All those layers and you’re still cold? No wonder you have so many heaters in the old Winnie.” Duck started to remove his own coat, and put it over Indrid’s shoulders, not giving him a second to protest. “There, that should help.” 

And then there was that moment again. The two of them, standing so close together, Duck’s hands still lingering on the coat he gave Indrid. They just had to lean in a bit closer...and...

This time, Duck pulled away.

He pulled away and stepped back, far back, and Indrid could feel his heart shatter. He had to hold himself back from reaching out to Duck, from pulling him in and clinging to him. He felt stupid, thinking that he ever stood a chance. What the hell was wrong with him?!  There was that silence between them again as Indrid mentally tore himself apart, holding back frustrated tears. He didn’t even want to look at Duck, he didn’t even want to think about him but Duck was all that was on his mind. 

“I’m...I’m going to get Ned and Aubrey,” Duck finally said before rushing off inside. 

As soon as Duck was gone, Indrid groaned in frustration. “Stupid, stupid,  _ stupid _ ,” he hissed under his breath. “Stupid for not bring a scarf, too.” He muttered as he covered his now nearly frozen face with the coat Duck had lended him. It...it smelled nice. Like pine and wood with the faint scent of cologne. It was kind of relaxing... He buried his face in it, staying in place until he heard Aubrey’s voice as she approached. He quickly moved his face out from the coat and look towards the group. 

“So what did you want us out here fo-” Aubrey froze in her tracks once she saw Indrid “ _ Oh _ .” The contempt was clear in her voice and in her face. This wasn’t going to be easy at all, was it? 

“Now, Aubrey, I know you aren’t happy to see him but-”

“I’m here to apologize,” Indrid interrupted Duck as he walked up to the three. “Apologize and explain, if you’ll allow me to.”

“It better be a pretty damn good explanation after what you pulled,” Ned said, his glare different from Aubrey’s, but just as bad. 

“It’s really not the best excuse but, I was just making a little joke,” Indrid explained. “I realize now that I may have been going a bit too far, and I apologize for that.”

Ned’s face was the first to relax, though he still seemed skeptical. “A joke, huh...?” He thought it over for just a moment. “Well, hell if I get it, but if you didn’t mean any harm, I guess I can forgive you.” He smiled and offered his hand for a handshake, which Indrid happily accepted. One down...

Aubrey was a bit more hesitant. She stared at Indrid for a bit, with her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised. “So...we’re friends...?” She asked. 

“Of course we are,” Indrid replied. 

Aubrey’s face scrunched up in thought a moment, then she beamed a big smile. “Hell yeah!” she cheered, offering her hand up for a high five, and Indrid reciprocated. It was a really fucking sick high five. After the high five, however, Aubrey froze. “Hold on a second...is that...” Her face scrunched up once more. “You aren’t wearing...oh my god you are! Duck, did you seriously give him your  _ coat _ ?!” She broke out into a fit of giggles, and Indrid and Duck looked at each other with concern. 

“Yeah, I did.” Duck said. “He looked like he was about to freeze to death, and I wanted to help him out a bit.” 

“Yeah, yeah, sure.” Aubrey said in between giggles. “You two  _ seriously  _ have some shit you need to sort out. I hope you know that.” 

“Hang on, am I the only one lost as hell here?!” Ned asked. 

“Nope,” Duck and Indrid said in unison. 

Aubrey slowly calmed down, wiping a tear from her eye. “Sure, sure. I’ll let you two figure it out on your own...” She finally calmed herself down, but only a few seconds later, she gasped with excitement. “Oh hey! Indrid! You should stay for the show! It’s really cool, I get to do some magic, and Duck does some PSA stuff. Oh! You haven’t seen me do magic have you? Stage magic, I mean. Like yeah you’ve seen me to the whole  _ woosh _ thing but this is just as cool I promise! You  _ have  _ to see-”

“Actually,” Duck interrupted. “I was just about to take Indrid back home before we started things.”

Indrid nodded. “There’s a few people too many here for my likes, unfortunately.”

“Oh,” Aubrey said, doing a horrible job at hiding her disappointment. “That...that’s fine. You should try and watch on TV sometime still...”

Indrid tried to avoid the guilt that was bubbling inside him, but Aubrey just looked so sad he needed to do  _ something _ ...he shook his head, defeated. If it was for his friends... “I guess I can stay and watch, if it means that much to you.”

Aubrey’s face absolutely lit up, and she hopped with excitement. “Really? You’ll stay?”

“Only if you promise to give me the best magic show ever,” Indrid said with a smile. 

“Oh, I’ll make sure this one knocks your socks off,” She gasped. “I have to practice more! I have to make this one perfect!” And with that, she ran back off inside. 

The three men left behind watched her run off, all three chuckling. “Well, I better make sure everything’s set and ready, make sure Kirby doesn’t spill cola on any of the equipment this time, that sort of stuff. You two come in soon, we’re on in 30.” Ned told the other two before walking back inside, leaving Duck and Indrid with each other. 

“You didn’t have to do that, you know,” Duck said. “She would have gotten over it pretty fast.”

“Sure, but you’re my friends, aren’t you? I wouldn’t be that good of a friend if I wasn’t supportive.” Indrid replied. “Besides, I’m curious about Aubrey’s stage magic, and if it’s really as impressive as she claims.” 

“It’s somethin’ all right.” Duck laughed a bit. “I think you’ll like it. We should probably head in though. There’s a spot near the back without many people, if you want to hang out there.”

“Thanks, Duck...You know, I’m surprised you actually appear on the show yourself. It doesn’t seem like your kind of thing.” 

“It’s not,” Duck said. “But Ned kind of insisted I do something. He wanted me to do a bit with Beacon which was...no. Absolutely not. Never. Nope.”

Indrid laughed. “Well, I’m sure whatever you do, it’ll go amazingly.” He smiled at Duck as they headed in.

“Yeah, yeah...the spot is right over there.” Duck pointed to a spot in a corner where sure enough, no one was even standing near. “You should be able to see what’s going on without much trouble.”

“Thanks. I’ll see you when things are done?”

“Of course. I’ll take you home then.” 

And with that, Duck hurried to catch up with Ned and Aubrey. Indrid watched and sighed with a smile. Duck really was something. 

The show went as well as, if not better, than ever, even if Aubrey kept looking to Indrid for approval throughout the show. As it ended, the four reconvened on the porch outside the “museum.” 

“What’d I tell you, Indrid? I’m the coolest!” Aubrey said with a proud grin. 

“‘Coolest’ may be a stretch...” Indrid teased. 

“Hey!” Aubrey huffed and shoved him a bit. “I put a lot of work into that show for you, you know!”

“I know, I know...It was rather impressive, I’ll say that much.” Indrid gave a much more sincere smile than his previous teasing grin.

“Please,” Ned sighed. “She could hardly focus because she was so worried about your reaction!”

“Cut her some slack, Ned.” Duck said. “She was excited to show off.”

“See, this is why you’re my favorite, Duck.” Aubrey said, putting an arm around Duck. 

“Your ‘favorite’ is whoever benefits you the most at the moment,” Ned pointed out. 

Aubrey let out a shock, offended, over dramatic gasp. “How dare you suggest I’d be so  _ shallow _ ,” She said. The group laughed together, and Indrid felt...warm. Only for a moment though, until a chill wind reminded him of his least favorite weather. He curled up a bit and shivered.

“Right well, I better get Indrid home before he becomes a popsicle.” Duck said. 

“Let me take you!” Ned offered. “Been wanting to test out the new ride anyways.” 

“Oh, I want to go too! I want to see Billy!” Aubrey bounced and raised her hand. 

Indrid kind of wanted to be alone with Duck, but he could tell by the behavior of the other two that there was no arguing this. “Fine,” Duck said. “But let’s not stay there for too long. I’m sure Indrid wants some rest after today.”

The ride to the Winnebago was much more lively than anything Indrid was used to, but he’d be lying if he said he didn’t enjoy it. It was nice, having friends and laughing and joking with them. Billy was more than ecstatic to see everyone again for the first time in awhile, and Indrid enjoyed having guests over for fun. But despite all that, he was  _ very  _ tired, and found himself requesting a bit of time alone. 

“You two go ahead,” Duck said. “I want to uh...say goodbye to Billy.”

“Right. To Billy,” Aubrey taunted. “I totally believe you’re saying bye to him and totally not to Indrid.”

Ned shook his head. “Com’n Aubrey, let’s just give them their space.”

As soon as they were out, Indrid chuckled. “Aubrey’s quite the imaginative one, isn’t she?” He asked. “I do assume you didn’t just want to say goodbye to Billy, however.”

“You know I can’t lie for shit,” Duck admitted. “I just...I wanted to thank you. For openin’ up to me, and for stickin’ around even when you didn’t really want to.”

“I mean, I had fun in the end. Isn’t that what’s important?” 

“Well sure but...” Duck rubbed the back of his neck and moved closer, so he and Indrid were face to face, and his hand just barely brushed over Indrid’s. “It just means a lot to me, alright? You mean-” Duck cut himself off, but Indrid already knew what he wanted to say. There was a future or two where he managed to get that sentence out. Along with a few other futures that interested Indrid...the two stood there, faces inching slowly closer to each other, until their lips just barely brushed against one another. Before they could go any further, they both pulled away, covering their mouths as their faces went bright red. 

“I...I better go,” Duck quickly stuttered before running out. “You...you can keep the coat. Stay warm.” And he was gone. 

As he watched Duck leave, Indrid smilled. Duck...Duck kissed him! Actually kissed him! It was hardly even a peck but he kissed him! He laughed a bit and grabbed the coat Duck had given him-just given him!-and buried his face in it. He made his way to bed and laughed more. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t stop laughing and smiling! 

Today had to be the best day he had in centuries. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After this is a follow up I'm titling Fate. I was considering making it a fourth chapter but it just doesn't fit what I wanted Attachments to be. I've got a few more things to do for school, but should be done by the end of the week, then I plan on doing nothing but write write write.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm going to try to get chapters out for this shit as fast as I can, I have one or two more chapters planned, and then another connecting fic that'll probably also be 1-3 chapters long.  
> Anyways, don't forget to hit that kudos or leave a comment on this if you like it. Or just a comment telling me how bad it is. Anything helps. Now I'm gonna get some fucking sleep.


End file.
